


The Price of Magic

by Dr4g0nG1rl_869



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: No idea what I'm doing, None Of The Characters Belong To Me, Not Canon Compliant, Not Epilogue Compliant, because sirius never should have died, first fic, shame on you joanne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-07 23:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20825408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr4g0nG1rl_869/pseuds/Dr4g0nG1rl_869
Summary: Hermione has been working in the Department of Mysteries on a very important project.





	The Price of Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Debt of Time](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10672917) by [ShayaLonnie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShayaLonnie/pseuds/ShayaLonnie). 

Hermione stared blankly at the wall in front of her, mind drifting away from the work she had brought with her to the bar, thinking she could get the report done before the next day. Her hands twiddled thoughtlessly with a quill, her other hand resting under her chin. Her thoughts were wandering away from her and she was completely unaware of her surroundings when her friends sat down in the booth with her.

“’Mione?” Harry waved a hand in front of her face with no reaction. “Helllooo” he nudged her side and pulled her from her thoughts with a jerk. She looked around to find Harry, Ron, and Ginny looking at her with amused expressions, Luna, as usual, looked surprised to find herself with other people.

“Oh!” She started, “When did you lot get here?”

Harry laughed, “just now, what were you so focused on?” His eyes found the pile of papers near elbow, “work?”

“Oh,” She still looked preoccupied, “yes, work. I have a report due tomorrow.”

“What about?” Four sets of eyes flicked to the papers in front her and she immediately snatched them back and shoved them into a file folder before pushing them aside.

“You know I can’t tell you that. Top secret.”

“C’mon. Not even a hint?” Ginny pleaded.

“Absolutely not. I would lose my job if I told you anything.”

“Still can’t believe you ended up in the Department of Mysteries. After everything that happened down there.” Ron let out an involuntary shudder and Hermione smiled comfortingly at him.

“You know I want to make changes in the wizarding world and a lot of the research that gets done in our department helps progress be made.”

Everyone nodded noncommittally, they’d heard it all before. Hermione winced slightly at the reaction, but it was technically true. The Department of Mysteries did a lot of research that had led to huge advances in magical theory and healing, however, everyone had thought that Hermione was headed for something different. Healing maybe, Department of Magical Law Enforcement had been high on her list, or even the Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures. None of those would have surprised anyone, but then she’d announced that she’d taken a position as an unspeakable. No one yet seemed to accept it. 

She sighed, the chatter of her friends fading to the background as she smiled and nodded, not listening to anything they were saying. She knew she had a good reason, as she told herself day after day. She knew that if she could succeed, she would prove to everyone that it was a worthwhile decision, but first she had to figure out how to do it. She’d been in the Department of Mysteries for nearly a year and her research had come to a halt. She was struggling to decide what to do next. She wished she could ask her friends for help, but a lot of the research was based on confidential information gleaned in the Department of Mysteries so rather than risk her job and access to further information, she had to do it alone.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

The following day Hermione showed up to work early, dropping her report on time turners on her boss’ desk before heading to her work area. Her experience with time turners combined with her high N.E.W.T. scores had been a large part of her appeal to the department. After their 5th year when the entire ministry collection of time turners had been smashed, they’d been hard pressed to create a working one again. Hermione had spent a year using one daily, and her research had helped to move them forward since she started in the department.

She was proud of that work, and she knew they’d be able to get a working prototype soon, but that wasn’t why she was there. A time turner couldn’t take her back that far. At least not without serious consequences. She needed a different way. She’d researched everything on the subject and she was stuck.

She knew there had to be a way to bring someone back from the veil, but she had no idea what it was. They weren’t technically dead; she knew that from her research. It was an in between of sorts, really, a purgatory for those held in an in-between state. _But why put them there if there wasn’t a way to bring them back, _she mused for the thousandth time.

She sat down on one of the highest steps of the veil room, she came here often, to sit and think, hoping that something would give her inspiration or lead her in the correct direction. She’d spent hours here, staring at the veil, watching it flutter in the nonexistent wind, and thinking.

She sighed heavily after 20 minutes and glanced at her watch. Her shift started in five minutes. She stood reluctantly, wishing something would come to her, then turned to leave. She was halfway through the door when she would have sworn she heard something. She paused and leaned back on her heel, more in the room than out, and listened.

A sound vaguely like wind was whispering around the room, so faint she could barely hear it. She let the door close behind her and stepped cautiously down a couple of steps, stopping again to listen. The faint noise seemed even fainter and she wondered if she was imagining it. She stepped quickly down the rest of the stairs and came to stand at the base of the dais.

Listening carefully, and somewhat fearfully, she stood entirely still, waiting.

“_Help…” _the voice was so faint Hermione wasn’t even sure she had heard it. She scrambled up onto the Dais and moved close to the archway, then froze, barely breathing.

“_Hermione…”_

She gasped and stepped back. That was her name, that was definitely her name. “Sirius?” she whispered at the veil. “Sirius, is that you?!” She asked louder and inched closer, her eyes fixed on the veil.

As she stared at the veil, a vague human form started to materialize in front of her, outlined behind the veil, it was less than a ghost, and barely visible, if she blinked, she was sure it would be gone. As she took another step forward, a face appeared as if pressed against the veil, “Oh my god! Sirius!” she cried resisting the urge to step forward, resisting the urge to reach out to him. His face was pained, the agony etched in every line, as he whispered “_Help” _once more before being violently jerked backwards into the void.

She was sure she heard him scream, and she fell to her knees in front of the archway, tears streaming down her face as she reached out a helpless hand to where Sirius had just been. A cry wrenched from her throat and her palms landed flat on the ground in front of her as she sobbed quietly.

\-------------------------------------------------

Hermione was engrossed in a book on her desk, eyes flicking quickly from side to side. After what she had seen a week prior, she had been working non-stop to try and figure out a way to save Sirius. The Department of Mysteries housed its own library full of fascinating, if often horrifying, things that were for the use of unspeakables only. Most of the books Hermione had never heard of before beginning her job there and for a lot of the books, she wished that was still true. Some of the research was quite dark and she was grateful to be mainly working on time-turners which were, for the most part, benign.

However, she took advantage of the library and its enormous volumes to study what was known about the veil, death, and terrifying spells that prolonged ones’ life. Everything Hermione had wanted to know about Horcruxes a few years prior was housed in this library and explained and researched them in graphic detail.

Blood magic was explored in depth, and Hermione had even considered that it might be necessary to bring Sirius back, however, nothing she’d found had indicated that it would be even close to helpful, so after little research she had abandoned the idea.

She pushed her fingers into her temples, trying to massage away the headache that had been plaguing her for 3 days. She’d hardly left her desk and slept less than she knew was wise. As she contemplated taking a break to get lunch, a memo landed on her desk. She started and picked it up:

_Mione, _

_Want to do lunch? I think you need a break. _

_Harry_

Hermione smiled. He always seemed to know she needed him. She got up from her desk and walked down the long corridors of the department, the spinning doors whirled, and she immediately pushed the correct door open, smiling at Harry as he peered behind her into the darkness.

“It really doesn’t bother you working down here?” he questioned.

“Not anymore. At first it was really hard. I couldn’t go anywhere other than my desk and back without thinking of Dolohov and getting nauseated. After a year though it’s gotten easier. Mundane really.” She shrugged and smiled at him.

They walked out of the lifts a few minutes later and headed for the main entrance. They frequently visited the muggle restaurants near the ministry when they went out. They both liked the quiet and mental distance it put between them and work.

Harry had worked as an Auror for a couple of years now. He’d started at the ministry rather than going back for 7th year as Hermione had done. He and his partner, a young witch named Tracy who Hermione vaguely remembered being a few years ahead of them at Hogwarts, were still trying to catch remaining death eaters who run after the end of the war. More than anyone would have hoped had gotten away after the end of the battle in all the chaos and Harry was determined to catch them all.

As they lunched in companionable silence, Harry opened his mouth as if to speak, closed it, shook his head, and took another bite of his sandwich.

“What?”

Harry looked up questioningly.

“I saw that. What?”

Harry’s mouth quirked, “observant.”

“Not really,” she laughed, “you’ve done it about a dozen times the last half hour. Now spit it out.”

He smiled at her, though it seemed tinged with sadness, “It’ll be 4 years next week.”

Hermione was uncertain what he was talking about. She quickly did a mental search of her brain going back four years and then stopped.

“Oh, Harry…” her voice trailed off. She reached out a hand and placed it gently on his. He gripped it and tried to smile at her.

“I know we didn’t know each other that long, but he was my only real family, ya know? And it’s still hard. It gets easier every year, but it’s still, well, difficult”

“I don’t think it’s ever supposed to be easy, Harry.” She said softly. “I wish I could do something.”

“Just being here is enough,” He replied.

They returned to their lunch, both lost in thought. Hermione wished she could tell Harry what she was trying to do, but she didn’t want to get his hopes up for nothing if she wasn’t able to figure out a way to succeed.

Suddenly, Hermione sat up a look of comprehension dawning on her face. Harry looked at her, startled, “what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing is wrong, I just, um, I have to go.” She stood hurriedly and dropped some money on the table, “I’m so sorry, I’ve just realized something I have to do. We’ll do lunch again soon, I promise!”

As Hermione got up to leave she dropped an absent minded kiss on Harry’s cheek and hurried out rushing back to the ministry.

She shuffled impatiently in the lift, “come on, come on, just move already!” she hissed to no one urging it to move faster.

When the lift finally landed on her floor she flew out and through the door of the Department of Mysteries making a beeline for the library.

“Where is it, I know I saw it,” she mumbled and she rushed between the isles looking for a volume she’d seen a few months ago and dismissed at the time. After a few minutes she located it, _An in Depth Look at Time and its Significant Components, _and pulled it down. “Well who would read a book with such a boring title” she muttered to herself as she carried it back to her desk and set it down, flipping quickly through the pages.

She skimmed through several pages before slowing down and breathing in quickly. Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner? Anniversary’s held magical power much like the number 7. There were many things in the magical world that held extraordinary and still unexplored power. She could bring Sirius back on the anniversary of his death. She knew it.

_\----------------------------------------------_

The anniversary of Sirius death was looming ever closer and Hermione was starting to worry that she wouldn’t be ready in time. A week wasn’t long enough to get all the information together that she needed. The anniversary of his death should bring Sirius close to the veil from whatever void he was in. She’d done a lot of research in the last few days and was entirely uncertain how he had managed to make his way near it to get a message through a couple of weeks prior. All the research on the topic indicated that it should have been impossible, but she couldn’t focus on that now.

Many witches and wizards had a deeper than normal connection to the dead and the department of Mysteries had done experiments in the past with those who could communicate with those beyond the veil. When the anniversary of their death came around, the person beyond the veil came close to the Arch and they were able to communicate with the people on the other side, much like Sirius had done. Hermione was sure this was when they would be able to bring him back. She just needed Harry’s help.

_Lunch? – H_

She sent the memo and then left her desk moving toward the revolving doors. She stopped briefly and looked through the doorway down at the archway in the cold stone room. An unspeakable from the department was on the far side of the room, wand in hand, murmuring incantations as he walked slowly around the dais. She gave him a last quizzical look, then went to meet Harry for lunch.

“So, are you going to tell me what happened the other day?” Harry asked once they’d sat down and gotten their drinks.

“What do you mean?” Hermione asked, feigning innocence.

Harry smirked at her, “Why did you take off last week? Oh wait, don’t tell me, you can’t tell me.” He rolled his eyes slightly, but she knew he was teasing.

“Well, actually. I have a question for you.” She poked a fork at her salad, unsure how to pose the question.

“Yes?” He asked, looking up at her.

She met his gaze and took a deep breath, “I’m just going to ask it, okay?”

“Okay?” He responded, “Do I need to be concerned?”

“No! At least, I don’t think so, well, maybe, but, in any case. You still have the resurrection stone, don’t you?”

Harry froze and then spluttered, “No, I, of course not, I left it in the forest, I told you that. Why would I even want to keep that thing, it couldn’t possibly do any good could it? I mean, it just sounds like a bad idea doesn’t it?”

“So….yes?” She pressed.

“I, well, what would you want it for anyway?” He deflected the question.

“I’ve been doing some research. And, I need it.”

“You, _need_ it?” He eyed her suspiciously.

“And you. And, possibly Luna. I’m not sure about that part yet.”

“Luna? Me? ‘Mione, what on earth are you talking about? What is this research. It sounds fishy to me.”

“Possibly. Also, I’ll need to sneak you into the Department of Mysteries after hours.”

“I, you, WHAT?!” He was completely confused now. What on earth are you plotting? This sounds completely mad. You know that don’t you?”

“Well, yes. I do, actually, but I promise, if you just trust me, it’ll be worth it.”

“Just trust you that I and possibly Luna need to sneak into the Department of Mysteries with you and with the resurrection stone that you’re not even sure that I have for some crazy experiment you’re going to do?” He looked completely incredulous and Hermione slumped sheepishly.

“Please, Harry?” Her eyes were pleading as she looked at him.

He stared at her long and hard. “How did you know?” he asked quietly, not answering her question.

She smiled fondly at him, “because I know you, Harry.”

He sighed. “Fine, but if you think you can talk Luna into this, you’re mental.”

“I’d be delighted!” Luna exclaimed and Harry looked dumbstruck. “Anything to help out a friend. Oh, this will be just like old times!” She clapped her hands and looked so excited that Hermione was questioning her decision.

The three had met at the leaky cauldron to ask Luna’s help and start planning if she agreed. They only had one more day to get everything figured out before Sirius’ deathday anniversary was here and Hermione was feeling slightly panicked.

“I have some hair from another Department of Mysteries worker and I was thinking we could Polyjuice Luna to look like them, I’m obviously fine to be there, since I work there, and then Harry could just use his invisibility cloak.”

The other two seemed like this plan was ludicrous, but doable. “We’ll go in tomorrow night, it’ll be after most of the ministry have left, so we shouldn’t have any problems. Harry, just make sure you bring…IT. Alright?”

“The resurrection stone, right?” Luna asked, her dreamy look still in place.

Hermione spluttered at her, “I, what, how would you?”

Harry looked equally stunned.

“Well, I thought it was obvious” she said with a smile and returned to silence.

They continued planning and by the time she got up the next morning, she was feeling reasonably confident in their ability to succeed.

She went to work like normal and struggled through her day. She kept thinking of things that might go wrong and spent the majority of her time guiltily finding ways to double check that they were covered. She knew quite a few healing spells should she need them and was determined to be prepared for anything that could go wrong.

She met Harry and Luna in muggle London where they went over remaining details in the time before they went back into the ministry. She was feeling very nervous and her heart had been pounding all day. Around 7 she gave Luna the Polyjuice potion with the hair of the unspeakable she had seen a couple days prior and once she had transformed they made their way to the ministry entrance and landed breathlessly in the atrium.

It was empty, as Hermione had anticipated, and they went to the lifts. It wasn’t at all uncommon for unspeakables to work lake or odd shifts, so no one would be suspicious of them being there late if they ran into anyone.

The lift rumbled down and creaked open and they entered the Department of Mysteries staring at the revolving doors that Hermione walked through daily and that the other 2 hadn’t been through in four years. They whirled around and Hermione walked confidently up to a door and pulled it open revealing the archway. Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off and stuffed it in his pocket moving toward Hermione. 

“Okay,” she released an unsteady breath, “are you ready?” They both nodded at her and moved down toward the dais.

They stood in front of the archway all of them nervous and glancing at each other.

“Alright Luna, can you hear anything?” Asked Hermione.

“No, I can’t hear Sirius yet.”

“Wait, Sirius?!” Harry whirled on Hermione.

“Luna!” Hermione exclaimed, “How?"

“Well, I thought it was obvious.” She said smiling.

“Harry,” Hermione said calmingly, turning to her friend. “I don’t have time to explain, and if I’m right, I won’t have to. Please.” She pleaded with him.

He looked angry and shocked but nodded his head and she let out a sigh of relief.

“Alright, well, now that everyone knows what we’re doing here, Luna, I need you to listen for Sirius. He should come close to the veil tonight. Probably right around the same time he went through it before. When you can communicate with him, I need you to tell him to recite this spell.” She handed a slip of paper to Luna and made sure she knew how to pronounce it. Then moved to Harry.

She shifted him so that he was dead center in front of the archway. “Now, Harry, once Luna is able to communicate, we’ll need you to repeat this spell at the same time as Sirius. We should be able to see him through the veil. You’ll also need to turn the resurrection stone while you’re reciting it. I know the stone works by being turned 3 times, but for THIS to work, you’ll need to turn it 5 times. Understand?”

Harry nodded and looked at her questioning. “Do you really think we could…?” He trailed off and Hermione didn’t know how to answer him.

“I…I don’t know. But I hope so.”

Luna shifted the paper between her fingers listening intently. “There are so many voices here,” she said quietly. “They’re all so sad.”

“Can you try reaching out to Sirius specifically?” Hermione asked the girl.

“Certainly, let me try it.” Luna closed her eyes and her lips were pursed. She moved a half step closer to the veil and Hermione could see her hands still fiddling with the slip of paper she’d given her. She turned to make sure Harry was okay and then moved to Luna’s side.

“Anything?” She asked, somewhat impatiently. She checked her watch and figured it should be soon, but she wasn’t entirely sure.

“Not yet,” She answered “Be patient. There are a lot of people back there, it’s hard to distinguish anyone specifically. They have a lot to say.” It was matter of fact and Hermione shivered. She couldn’t hear anything.

“Harry, can you hear anything?” She asked curiously.

“Nothing at all. Just the sound of the veil moving.”

“Me too,” Hermione answered, “I wonder what it’s like to hear what Luna hears.”

Before Harry could answer they both turned to see Luna mumbling under her breath. They couldn’t make out the words, but she spoke louder, to them. “I found him!” She said triumphantly. He’s moving closer.”

Hermione jolted back to attention.

“Alright, Luna, get ready to give him the incantation and tell him he needs to try to do it as in sync with Harry as possible. I think he can see through the veil once he gets closer?”

Luna said a few more things under her breath, the communication through the veil seemed to be mainly non-verbal. Luna nodded at Hermione, “Yes, he can see through it. He says he saw you the other day.”

Harry and Luna looked questioningly at her, but she waved them off, “Okay, Harry. Are you ready?”

Harry nodded nervously and Luna said “He’s nearly here. He says he’s ready.”

A few moments later a shape began to materialize behind the veil. It loomed ever closer and Sirius’ face started to take shape. It looked just as pained as it had before and both Harry and Hermione let out a gasp once he was fully in view.

“Now!” Said Hermione and held the book in front of Harry, gripping his shoulder and watching as his eyes met his godfathers. As one they began their incantations and she felt his hand start to move as the muscles in his arm shifted under her hand.

She counted under her breath keeping track of the revolutions of the stone. “One….two….”

They kept repeating their incantations, eyes locked, in time with each other. “Three…..four….”

Their voices grew stronger as they found a rhythm with each other. “Five…”

As the last rotation of the stone completed in Harry’s hand and the last round of the incantations faded, there was a flash of white light and Sirius screamed as he was pulled back through the veil he should never have gone through in the first place. He stood uncertainly on the living side of the void for a moment before his eyes closed and he fell forward. Hermione cast a cushioning charm to catch him and ran forward.

Harry looked on in disbelief.

“Luna!” Hermione yelled at her friend. “Help Harry!”

Luna immediately moved to Harry and helped him removed the stone from his hand and replace it safely in his pocket before helping him to the ground. He looked like he was in shock, but Hermione didn’t have time for that now.

Sirius was ice cold and she cast warming charm after warming charm on him, trying to bring his temperature up and reduce his shivering.

She cast a quick spell over him to assess the level of damage that needed controlled. He was cold and fatigued and his heart was beating ever so slowly. “_Enervate” _she said quietly and felt his heart rate quicken slightly, though he was so far gone it didn’t wake him up. She cast a couple of healing spells she thought might help and then stood.

“We need to get him back to my flat. Quickly. I have some potions there that will help.”

Luna helped Harry to his feet, and he put the invisibility cloak back on, hands shaking as he did so.

“How are you going to get Sirius out of here?” He asked, uncertain and still looking lost.

She turned and cast a powerful disillusionment charm on him followed by a notice-me-not. If they hadn’t known he was there, they wouldn’t have seen him at all. She levitated him carefully up and then turned to the other two.

“Ready?”

Luna nodded and Harry said “yes” from under his cloak. They moved swiftly to the door and as it latched firmly behind them, the doors began to spin. Once again, Hermione moved them through the correct door with no incident and a few minutes later they were exiting out into the atrium.

Hermione moved them all quickly to the exit, and once out on the street turned on the spot with Sirius in her grasp and was gone.

\--------------------------------------------------------

The other 2 followed quickly in her wake and there were 2 small pops as they apparated into Hermione’s flat. 

Hermione was already moving Sirius into the guest bed and enchanting pillows and blankets for him when Harry came slowly into the room. She smiled reassuringly at him. “It’s okay. I’m going to go get some potions, but all of my research says that he should be 100% himself when he wakes up.”

Harry stood nervously in the doorway as Hermione walked past him with a reassuring squeeze to his arm and she went quickly to get potions from her potions cupboard. She had been stocking up to be safe.

She returned quickly with an invigoration drought, which she placed on the bedside table, a potion to help start restoring muscle and fat after the long time spent god knows where, a pain relief potion, a pepper up potion and several others that she wasn’t sure she’d need, but brought to be safe.

She cast yet another warming charm on him, he was still dangerously cold, and then turned to get Harry’s help when she noticed him slumped on the floor in the corner of the room. She smiled sympathetically at him, but he seemed not to see her.

“Luna,” She called “Could you come help me please?

Luna drifted into the room and to the other side of the bed, “how can I help?” she asked, pushing up her sleeves.

“I need to get these potions in him, so I need you to hold his head up. I don’t think he’ll be able to swallow, so I’ll have to do it with my wand.”

Luna nodded and without hesitation stepped in to help. The pepper up potion seemed to help with his temperature and the pain relief potion helped with his breathing. He seemed to relax a little more into the bed and the breaths were less ragged. She did a couple more and then told Luna to lay him back on the bed.

“That should be good for a while. I just have to make sure he stays warm, and he’ll need to eat as soon as he wakes up. Probably nothing more than soup for a while, but until then I can give him a few more of the nutrition potions to keep him stable and hopefully start to restore his health.”

Luna nodded her understanding and Hermione finally turned her attention to Harry.

“Harry.” Hermione said quietly. He didn’t respond and continued to stare blankly at the bed.

She sat down next to him and grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers through is. “Harry,” she said again, and he turned to look at her.

“I…I don’t know what to do. All I’ve wanted for years is to have Sirius back, and now…” He looked at her, pain was etched on his face. “How, how did you? Is he really?” He slumped back.

“It’s really him. He should be completely fine. No one’s ever done it before, of course, but I couldn’t find any reason he shouldn’t come back completely. He shouldn’t have gone through to begin with and the resurrection stone functioned differently in this case than with someone who is fully dead.”

“How did you possibly figure any of this out?” He asked, shocked.

“Well, let’s just say taking a job in the Department of Mysteries was not because it was my ideal career path.”

“You did this for me?” He looked stunned.

“For you, and for Sirius. Neither of you deserved for him to go that way. And he didn’t belong there.” She said it like it was so simple and Harry didn’t know what to do. He leaned over and hugged her, hard. She hugged him back, knowing full well what it meant.

“I think he should stay here,” She said “you and Ron don’t have room at your flat and I need to be here to administer potions and make sure his health stays on track. But he needs you, Harry. And I think you should be here for him while he recovers.”

Harry nodded and stood uncertainly. He walked over to the bed and slowly reached out a hand to the man on the bed. He was pale and gaunt but was still recognizably his godfather. He gripped Sirius hand and by the way he was shaking, Hermione assumed he was crying. She conjured a chair pushed him gently into it. His head fell onto Sirius arm as he continued to cry, gripping his hand and she whispered gently, “I’ll be back in a while,” and quietly left the room with Luna.

\------------------------------------------------

Sirius slept for 2 straight days and part of a third and Hermione was starting to worry that he wouldn’t wake up. She kept at his potions and healing charms, hoping for the best, and putting up the best possible front to Harry. She couldn’t let him know she was worried. As she cast a healing charm on Sirius the 3rd day, she saw his eyes start to flutter and dropped her wand in astonishment. The tip scorched a hole in the blanket, and she snatched it back, waved it quickly and then gave a message to her patronus for Harry. As it flew out the window, she turned to see Sirius trying to fix his eyes on her. 

“Sirius?” She said quietly, her hand reaching out to take his. “Sirius? Can you hear me?”

His eyes struggled to focus on her, and his mouth opened and closed a few times.

“W…w….water…” He managed to rasp out and Hermione jumped to her feet and raced to the kitchen. When she came back his hands were over his face, rubbing hard.

“Here you go, Sirius. Do you need help drinking?”

He shook his head, tried without any success to sit up, sighed, and said “yes, please.”

She eased an arm behind his shoulders, hoping it didn’t cause him any pain, and held him up while she lifted the cup to his lips. His hands cupped over hers on the glass and he feebly helped to guide the water.

When he was done, she eased him back down on the bed and sat down next to him, unsure of what to do next.

Before either of them could think of something to say, Hermione heard a pop in the kitchen and Harry burst into the room, eyes wide.

“Sirius!” Harry said, and reached out to grab his godfather’s hand. 

“Harry!” Sirius said with as much enthusiasm as his little energy would allow him and he pulled his godson into a hug.

Hermione watched, teary eyed as they were reunited.

\------------------------------

Sirius was weak and frail and stayed in bed for several weeks. Once Hermione felt like he’d regained enough strength, she let him walk a little, but usually just laps around his room since it was only a matter of minutes before he was tired again. 

Ever so slowly he regained his strength. His color was much better and Hermione was thrilled with his progress. About a month after they’d brought him back, Harry flooed into Hermione’s flat to find him sitting on the couch. By himself.

“Well, well, well, aren’t you an independent man now.” He teased his godfather and sat down across from him.

Sirius growled at him, but the corner of his lip twitched up. “I’m so tired of this flat. No offense” he said in response to Hermione’s indignant “humph”.

She smiled at him from the kitchen where she was making them team and he smiled back but continued “You’ve got to get me out of here, Harry. She’s far too protective. She barely lets me go to the bathroom alone.”

“Sirius, mate, you were basically dead. It takes a while to come back from that. I would think at least.” He smirked. “Besides, where would you go? Think you’re going to go out drinking with Remus?”

“Maybe! We used to have a good time when we were younger!” He squirmed in his chair, looking frustrated, “I don’t see why I need to stay here taking up Hermione’s time and space any longer. I can move into a flat with Remus. He’d be _thrilled _to have me. And I could hire a mediwitch to check in on me. You may not know this, but I’m rather well off.” He winked in Hermione’s direction and she rolled her eyes at him.

“I think that’s a good idea.” She said, surprising them all as she came back into the room with a tray of tea things.

Sirius gaped at her. “Really?!”

“Absolutely. You need to get back on your feet at some point and I can’t always be around playing healer for you. We’ve already had your name cleared by the ministry and you’ve been reinstated as the head of the house of Black and declared alive,” she rolled her eyes slightly, “and I can’t think of anyone who would keep a better eye on you than Remus. Except maybe me, of course.” She mused.

Sirius looked ecstatic “Not to say that I don’t appreciate all of your help. I can never repay what you’ve done,” he said seriously, “but it would be lovely to feel like a man again.”

Hermione and Harry both smiled. Harry settled back onto the couch “Remus will be here in a bit for a visit. You can talk about it with him then.”

“I will!” He said determinedly, “Well then, now that I’m strong enough to sit on the couch alone and to move in with my best mate. Hermione, will you tell me what happened?” His eyes locked with hers and she squirmed a bit under the intensity of his stare.

“What do you mean? I brought you back from the veil. You know that.”

“Hermione.” Harry and Sirius said together. They both looked at her, unblinking and she groaned. She’d known this was coming.

She sighed, then started. “Well, I guess some time in my 7th year I realized that there had to be a way to bring you back. You weren’t technically dead, and the veil just seemed so…I don’t know. Temporary. So I started doing a little research there, but I soon realized that the only way I was going to get the access to what I needed was to get into the Department of Mysteries. And not just once, I’d need to be able to spend a lot of time there and I couldn’t think of a better way than to be allowed there. So I changed my aims a bit so I could get hired on.”

They nodded, urging her to continue. “Well, I spent a lot of time doing a lot of, what ended up being meaningless research. I found out a lot of things I wish I didn’t know,” she shivered, “But it was actually Harry that gave me the push I needed.”

“I did what?” Harry asked surprised.

“Remember that lunch we had? The one where I took off on you? I’m still sorry about that by the way…” She said apologetically.

“I remember it. What did I do?”

“You reminded me that Sirius’ deathday anniversary was coming up.”

“And?”

“And, time is, well, unknown really, but also really particular. There are a lot of aspects of time that are well known and one of them is that repeating dates or times are significant. And more powerful than others. So the anniversary of Sirius death was a more powerful day to try to bring him back than any other day of the year. It’s also supposed to be the only day that Sirius is able to get close to the veil.”

She shot him a questioning look.

He put up his hands defensively, “No idea. I can’t remember anything after I came back through. It’s like it wiped my memory of everything that had happened to me for the last 4 years.”

Hermione nodded, “I expected as much. Anyway, those 2 things alone wouldn’t have been enough, but, luckily, we have Harry.”

Harry looked surprised again and Hermione chuckled a little. “In addition to the anniversary magic, we had another kind of powerful magic on our side. Sirius is your godfather.” She said it like it was so simple, but neither of them looked like they knew what it meant.

“When Sirius agreed to be your godfather, he took a magical vow to protect you. To take care of you should your parents pass away. The vow bonded you together. The incantations you both recited are old magic. It’s not something that’s done anymore, and I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to find the incantations. Luckily the Department of Mysteries library is quite extensive and has volumes that haven’t been touched in ages.”

“What was the incantation?” Sirius asked curiously.

“It’s a summoning charm of sorts. Or I guess that’s what you could call it. Since you are magically bonded by your relationship as godfather/godson you have a unique bond. When the incantations are recited it connects you. It’s a really powerful kind of magic, but it’s also really dangerous. There’s a reason it’s old magic. The Ministry banned it hundreds of years ago. They felt it was nearly as dangerous as the Imperious curse and it just kind of fell away and was forgotten. I came across it by complete chance, to be honest with you. I stumbled on it during my time turner research. I wasn’t even looking for it.” She shrugged.

“So, your magic bond, the anniversary of Sirius death, his proximity to the veil, and the power of the resurrection stone were collectively able to pull him back through the veil.” She concluded.

They looked dumbstruck. “Hermione, you are a genius,” Harry said.

Hermione laughed and rubbed her arm uncomfortably. “Well, it took a lot of luck, and you, Harry.” She smiled.

Sirius looked at her questioningly, “I have, a lot of questions, to be honest, however, if I sit here any longer, I’m going to fall asleep on you.” He reached out a hand to Harry who helped him to his feet. “To be continued.” He said to Hermione.

“Of course,” She responded and felt the smile slide off her face as the men retreated to Sirius room.

\---------------------------------------

No less than 2 weeks later, Remus and Sirius were moving into No. 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius had no desire to be back there again, but at least this time he wasn’t a prisoner and the house was big enough that he’d been able to convince Ron and Harry to move in with him and Remus as well. 

Kreacher was still there and Sirius was shocked by the change in his behavior and demeanor. He very quickly warmed up to the little elf and they were soon on much better terms. Kreacher was helpful in aiding Sirius recovery and, true to his word, Sirius hired a mediwitch to check in on him. He was thrilled to have his own little frat house.

Hermione, who had resigned from the Department of Mysteries a week following Sirius return, had very happily been hired on in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures instead and was working as an assistant to the head of the department while she took some extra courses to be able to get a job working directly with the legislation.

She worked significantly less and was, as a result, significantly happier. She popped in at Grimmauld place several times a week to check on Sirius and spend time with her friends. Life was settling into a lovely rhythm with Sirius back in it and all of them were notably happier for his sarcastic presence.

Hermione went home to her flat after a particularly happy visit to the Black house. Serious renovations had been underway, and it was barely recognizable, in the best possible way. She stepped through the floo and into her cozy kitchen. She sighed happily, then gasped in pain.

Her hands grabbed at her sides and she fell to her knees on the kitchen floor. She breathed heavily for several moments and willed the pain to leave as her head spun. Eventually the pain eased and she pulled herself to her feet, knuckles white where she gripped the kitchen counter. She breathed in and out feeling normalcy return to her body and shivered. She had known, of course, that there would be consequences for bringing Sirius back. She had known there would be a price. Even now she still felt like that price had been worth it. Any pain she’d have to endure had been worth rescuing an innocent man and giving her best friend back the only family he’d ever known. Her mind drifted unpleasantly to the hole she could feel missing from her soul and she wondered how severe the price would be…

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by DoT from ShayaLonnie. That work is the reason I started writing my own fanfic, it's incredible. I'm the only one who has proof read it, so please ignore my typos/errors. I hope you like it!


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